Stoney Acres Right Hand Person
Full Time Year Round Salaried Flexible Hard-Working Farm Hand
Feel free to send us your resume at any time.
Overview (What we’re doing here.)
Stoney Acres Farm provides a sustainable, creative, diverse, rewarding, fun path into the future of the family farm based on providing local organic food to people in our community in an era defined by the destructive consolidation of industrial agriculture, but it needs work, commitment, and a dedicated flexible right hand to make it possible. I am looking for a person to farm with me, learn and improve the practices of the farm, and care for it’s production and name for the long haul.
Stoney Acres is a diverse certified organic family farm Located in Athens, WI focusing on 150 member CSA, fresh market vegetables for sale year round at the Wausau Farmers’ Market, weekly frozen pizza production, and a seasonal Friday and Saturday farm to table pizza operation Mid-April – Early November. We also have animals including pigs, beef cows and egg laying chickens and produce maple syrup, wheat, small grains and hay. 80% of our work is manual labor related to vegetable production; this position includes all the responsibilities necessary for the function of the farm including work with animals, hay, firewood, mushroom production, accounts management, delivery, organization, and work on pizza night.
Our farm crew is made up of myself, 1 full time and 3 part-time employees, and several worker shares during each work day. You work closely with me in a family setting that includes a daily meal in our home, time around my three young children, CSA members, and my extended family. We are interested in hiring people interested in developing skills in organic agricultural production who want a long-term career in a hired hand role. Our work is physical, and at times mentally demanding. We work hard and fast and love farming and we expect the same from employees. We are dedicated to paying a living wage and also offer additional benefits.
Hired Hand Position
This is a Year Round Salaried Position. 2040 hours, 52 paid weeks with three seasonal phases. 1. Main Season : April – 1st week in November Approximately 39 weeks at 48 hrs per week. 2. Ramp up and Finish up – approximately 8 weeks at 40 hrs per week in March and November. 3. Winter – Approximately 11 weeks at 18 hrs per week.
Seasonal Work Week Break Down:
Every day will have some basic chores depending on the season. Animal chores, irrigation, firing-up, organizational review, accounts management.
Main Season – April -1st week in November
Monday 8 hrs Frozen pizza making session, work week organization and accounts management.
Tuesday 8 hrs- Some variation of planting, weeding, harvesting, post harvest handling or other needs
Wednesday 8 hrs – harvest focused on serving accounts and CSA, Box packing, prep and cleanup.
Thursday 8 hrs – deliveries, Planting, weeding, Preliminary market harvest and pizza night prep
Friday 12 hours – Market harvest, Pizza night prep, pizza night set-up, cleaning, working pizza night kitchen
Saturday 4 hours – Pizza night kitchen work.
Ramp-up and Finish-up season - March and November
40 hour work week Monday – Friday or Tuesday – Saturday that includes maple syrup preparation, production, clean-up and bottling. Greenhouse work, hoop house work, field prep, spring cleaning. Then in the fall harvesting, washing, market prep, frozen pizza production.
Winter Season – December, January, February.
Frozen Pizza Production. Farm Clean-up Market Prep, Firewood, Mushroom batching, Working winter markets.
Major requirements/skills: Experience with vegetable production and/or farming desired; Comfortably carry and repetitively lift 50-60lbs (lift 80-100 lbs on occasion desired); Work in a range of weather conditions; Communicate clearly with us and other employees; Balance a fast pace with quality across tasks including vegetable harvest, cleaning, weeding etc.; Work in commercial kitchen and/or in customer service Friday nights for pizza night. Lead small farm crews on independent tasks; Help manage harvest schedule, CSA packshed, wholesale harvests, communication; help with planting and regular monitoring of vegetable crops, greenhouse planting and watering, irrigation. General familiarity with ripeness, harvest techniques, weeding/weeds, cover crops etc; clean driving record
Minor/occasional tasks: carpentry, fixing machinery, welding (experienced desired), making hay, fixing fence and moving animals. Carry out mechanical work e.g. tractor driving, cultivation, skidsteer operation, back up wagon/trailers; operate hand tools like drills, chain saws etc; Pizza night work includes food prep and customer service.
Opportunities for additional farm roles and income (managing wholesale accounts for a commission), your own land for other projects, mentoring and business development and much more. You can be as involved in learning from our farm as you like and we are happy to give you time to help develop your strengths.
Compensation: $16/hour starting wage. Semi annual raises the first two years (i.e. 6 month $1 Barn Dance Bump, Annual raise of $1 depending on performance and relationship). ($20 per hour by the beginning of year 3 with annual raises to follow) Estimated $33,000 annually. plus tips on pizza night. Copious seconds vegetables, eggs and other farm goods like meat, maple syrup and grains on occasion. Farm lunch provided daily. Pizza dinner provided during pizza nights. Housing provided in our Sugar Shack starting in September (like a cabin with electricity but no running water). 3 sick days and 3 in season paid vacation days (advanced scheduling needed). Some in-season hourly flexibility for appointments or illness. One week paid winter season vacation. Ample winter season hourly flexibility for vacation. Future opportunities for health insurance in 2022, as well as commission based or project based income.
Send Resumes to:
stoneyacrescsa@gmail.com
or
Stoney Acres Farm
245728 Baldwin Creek Rd
Athens, WI 54411
Also Hiring Farm Hands
Seasonal vegetable production and kitchen work Mid-April through November. $15-17 depending on experience and hustle.